208 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
208 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IX April, 1931 No.4
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THE WARDENS
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by: Unknown
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The office of Warden is very old; older, probably, than any reference
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we will ever find in documents relating to the Craft. All through
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our organization the influence of the Guilds of the middle ages may
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be traced; occasionally with ease, more often by the methods of a
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“higher criticism” which reads analogies by inference and a logical
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interpretation of the spirit of the document.
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That Freemasonry derived its Wardens from the Guilds, however, needs
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no very critical labor to suggest.
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The Guilds of the Middle Ages acted under Royal Charters or Warrants,
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or similar instruments given by more local authority. This legal
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protection enabled them to work with more freedom, for the good of
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all, and gave the chartering authority some semblance of control.
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In the “libre Albus,” or White Book of the City of London 1419, we
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find the “Oath of the Masters and Wardens of the Mysteries,” which
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was applicable to any Guild - weavers, metal workers, Masons or
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others. It Reads:
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“You shall swear, that well and lawful you shall overlook the art or
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mystery of_____of which you are Masters and Wardens of the Mysteries,
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for the year elected. And the good rules and ordinances of the same
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mystery. approved here by the Court, you shall keep and cause to be
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kept. And all the defaults that you shall find therein, done
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contrary there to, you shall present to the Chamberlain of the City,
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from time to time, sparing no one for favour, and aggrieving no one
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for hate. Extortion or wrong unto no one, by colour of your office,
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you shall do; nor unto anything that shall be against the estate and
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Peace of the King, or of the City, you shall consent. But for the
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time that you shall be in office, in all things pertaining unto the
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said mystery, according to the good laws and franchises of the said
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City, well and lawfully you shall behave yourself. So God you help,
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and the Saints.”
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The Harleian manuscript, the probable date of which is 1660, states
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that:
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“For the future the Sayd Society, Company and Fraternity of Free
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Masons shall be regulated and governed by one Master and Assembly and
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Wardens as the said Company shall think to choose, at every yearly
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General Assembly.”
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It seems strange to modern ears, but it is a fact that the Wardens of
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a lodge, prior to some date between 1723 and 1738 were always chosen
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from the Fellows of the Craft.
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In the first edition of “Anderson’s Constitution,” published in 1723,
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under the “Manner of Constituting a New Lodge, as practiced by his
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Grace the Duke of Wharton, the present Right Worshipful Grand Master,
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according to the ancient usages of Masons,” we read: “The new Master
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and Wardens being yet among the Fellow-Craft.” After the newly
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elected Master is installed he calls forth “two Fellow-Craft,
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presents them to the Grand Master for his approbation,” and when that
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is secured they are duly installed as Wardens.
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At that early date a Deputy Grand Master could be chosen from the
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ranks of the Fellows. The 17th Regulation states: “If the Deputy
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Grand Master be sick, or necessarily absent, the Grand Master may
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choose any Fellow-Craft he pleases to be his Deputy “pro tempre.”
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In 1738, when the Book of Constitutions was published, the Wardens,
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Tiler, Assistant Treasurer and Secretary had to be Master Masons.
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Perhaps no ancient usage and custom of the Fraternity is more
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universal than the government of lodges by a Master and two Wardens.
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Mackey lists this requirement as his Tenth Landmark, and whether they
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have adopted Mackey’s twenty-five Landmarks or not, all Grand Lodges
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recognize the Wardens as essential in the formation, opening and
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governing of a lodge.
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The three principal officers of a lodge are universally recognized in
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the ritual as the essential elements of which a lodge must consist.
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Only the uninstructed Mason regards the stations of the Senior and
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Junior Wardens as but stepping stones to the East; necessary waiting
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posts to which the ambitious must stand hitched for a year before
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proceeding on his triumphal journey to the Oriental Chair!
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Not only are the wardens essential to every Entered Apprentices’,
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Fellow Crafts’ or Master Masons’ Lodge, but they have certain
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inherent powers, duties and responsibilities. Mackey sets these
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forth substantially as follows:
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“While the Master may use others than the Wardens in conferring of
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the degrees, he cannot deprive the Wardens of their offices, or
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absolve them of the responsibilities.”
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The government of a Masonic lodge is essentially tripartite, although
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lodges may be legally opened, set to labor and closed by the Master
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in the absence of the installed Wardens, the chairs being filled by
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temporary appointees. The Senior Warden presides in the absence of
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the Master, and the Junior Warden in the absence of both the Master
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and Senior Warden.
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No other brethren in the lodge have this power, privilege or
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responsibility. The Warden who presides in the absence of his
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superior officer may, if he desires, call a Past Master to the Chair
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to preside for him; but, no Past Master, in the absence of the
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Master, may legally congregate the lodge. That must be done by the
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Master, the Senior Warden in the Absence of the Master, or the Junior
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Warden in the absence of both.
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Mackey further states that while the Senior Warden takes the East by
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right in the absence of the Master, the Junior Warden does not take
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the West by right in the absence of the Senior Warden. Each officer
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is installed with a ceremony which gives him certain duties; a Warden
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in the East is still a Warden, not a Master. It is the Master’s
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privilege to appoint brethren to stations temporarily unfilled. The
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Master, whether elected and installed, or Senior Warden acting as
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Master in the real Master’s absence, may appoint the Junior Warden to
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fill an empty West. But the Junior Warden cannot assume the West
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without such ap-pointment. On the contrary, in the absence of the
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Master, the Senior Warden, when present, is the only brother who can
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assume the East and congregate the lodge.
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Thus runs the general law, usually adhered to. As has been noted in
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other Bulletins, Grand Lodges may, and not infrequently do, make
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local regulations contrary to the Old Constitutions, the Old Charges,
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even the Landmarks - the fundamental laws of Masonry.
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If a Grand Lodge rules that in the absence of the Master and both
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Wardens, the oldest Past Master present may congregate, open and
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close the lodge; then that law is correct for that Grand Lodge only;
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but it not in consonance with general Masonic practice, nor with the
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fundamental laws of the Fraternity.
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The Wardens are found in all bodies of Masonry, in all Rites and in
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all countries.
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Both its derivations, and its translations give the meaning of the
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word. It comes from the Saxon “weardian,” to guard, to watch. In
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France, the second and third officers are “Premier” and “Second
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Surveillant;” in Germany, “Erste” and “zwite Aufseher;” in Spain,
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“primer” and “segundo Vigilante;” in Italy, “primo” and “secondo
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Sorvegliante,” all the words meaning to overlook, to see, to watch,
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to keep ward, to observe.
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Whether the title came from the provision of the old rituals that the
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Wardens sit beside the two columns in the porch of the Temple to
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oversee or watch; the Senior Warden the Fellowcrafts and the Junior
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Warden the Apprentices; or whether the old rituals were developed
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from the custom of the middle ages Guilds having Wardens (watchers),
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is a moot question.
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In the French Rite and the Scottish Rite both Wardens sit in the
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West, near the columns. In the Blue Lodge the symbolism is somewhat
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impaired by the Junior Warden sitting in the South, but it is
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strengthened by giving each Warden a replica of the column beneath
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the shade of which he once sat. It is interesting to note that these
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columns once went by another name. Oliver quotes an inventory of a
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Lodge at Chester, in 1761, which includes “two truncheons for the
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Wardens.”
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Truncheons or Columns, they are the Warden’s emblems of authority,
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and their positions are of great interest. The column of the Senior
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Warden is erect, that of the Junior Warden on its side when the lodge
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it at labor. During refreshment, the Senior Warden’s column is laid
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prostrate, while that of the Junior Warden is erected, so that the
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craft may know, at all times, by a glance at either the South or the
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West. whether the Lodge is at labor or refreshment.
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The government of the Craft by a Master and two Wardens cannot be too
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strongly emphasized to the initiate or too well observed by the
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Craft. It is not only the right but the duty of the Senior Warden to
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“assist the Worshipful Master in opening and governing his lodge.”
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When he uses it to enforce orders, his setting mall or gavel is to be
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respected; he has a “proper officer” to carry his messages to the
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Junior Warden or elsewhere; under the Master, he is responsible for
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the conduct of the Lodge while at labor.
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The Junior Warden’s duties are less important; he observes the time,
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and calls the lodge from labor to refreshment, and from refreshment
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back to labor in due season, at the orders of the Master. It is his
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duty to see that “none of the Craft convert the purposes of
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refreshment into intemperance and excess” which doubtless has a
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bibulous derivation, coming from days when “refreshment” meant wine.
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If we no longer drink wine at lodge, we still have reason for this
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charge upon the Junior Warden, since it is his unpleasant duty,
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because he supervises the conduct of the Craft at refreshment, to
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prefer charges against those guilty of Masonic misconduct.
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Only Wardens may succeed to the office of Master (not so in Nevada).
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This requirement (which has certain exceptions, as in the formation
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of a new lodge) is very old.
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The fourth of the Old Charges reads:
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“No brother can be a Warden until he has passed the part of a
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Fellowcraft; nor a Master, until he has acted as Warden; nor Grand
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Warden, until he been Master of a Lodge, nor Grand Master, unless he
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has been a Fellowcraft before his election.”
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There is wisdom in the old law; there is wit in the modern practice
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of electing the Junior Warden to be Senior Warden. No man learns to
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be Master of a lodge by sitting upon the benches and observing. No
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brother’s fitness to be Master can be observed by brethren unless he
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is tested. Brethren learn, and are tested as to how they learn and
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perform, by serving as Wardens, before they aspire to the Oriental
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Chair.
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A privilege equally high is that of the Wardens in most
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Jurisdictions; representing the lodge with the Master at all
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communications of the Grand Lodge. Certain Grand Lodges
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disenfranchise the Wardens, the Grand Lodge consisting only of the
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Master of constituent lodges and the officers and past officers of
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Grand Lodge.
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Prior to the formation of the M other Grand Lodge of England, in
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1717, it was the prerogative of every Mason to be present at the
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General Assembly and to have his voice in its affairs. When the
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Grand Lodge was brought into being by the “four old lodges” of
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London, the interests of all were entrusted to the Masters and
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Wardens.
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Preston states that “The Masters and Wardens of all regular
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particular lodges upon record” form the Grand Lodge.
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Of the action of Grand Lodges which deprive the Wardens of membership
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in the Grand Lodge, Mackey states:
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“I cannot hesitate to say that this is not only a violation of the
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ancient regulations, but an infraction of the inherent rights of the
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Wardens and the lodges.”
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This appears to many as going too far. If the brethren of the old
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General Assembly could give up their rights to a voice in its
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deliberations, and entrust their interests to Masters and Wardens in
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a Grand Lodge, it seems not unreasonable that these Masters and
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Wardens, as a Grand Lodge, have a right to deprive themselves of
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membership when the good of the whole requires it.
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The Warden’s is a high and exalted office; his duties are many, his
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responsibilities great; his powers are only exceeded by those of the
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Master. He is a good Warden who so acts in his South or West as to
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command for himself the respect of the brethren, rather than
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demanding it because of law and custom.
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